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Demonstration against high energy prices in Turkey on Saturday: protesters burn gas bills
Photo:
ERDEM SAHIN / EPA
Due to a supply bottleneck from the gas supplier Iran, the Turkish government is cutting off the power and gas lines for the country's companies. Companies that still purchase gas face criminal consequences, as the "Handelsblatt" reported on Monday. According to the report, Turkey recently covered around 16 percent of its energy requirements from Iran. According to Iranian information, unusually low temperatures have increased their own gas consumption so much that less can be exported.
Many companies were apparently unprepared for the sudden announcement. "I don't know if I should even send my workers to the factory this week," a company representative was quoted as saying. The manager of a German plant said that he could not switch off his blast furnaces from now on. “That would mean millions in damage.” Penalties have to be accepted.
The Turkish car manufacturer Tofas has already announced that it will completely interrupt production for three days, writes the Handelsblatt.
Renault wants to completely interrupt its Clio production in the country for two weeks from Monday – in addition to the gas supply, computer chips were also missing.
The president of the Turkish automotive association OSD, Haydar Yenigün, spoke of "completely unforeseeable developments".
These would hit production and exports hard in January.
In view of the development, the German economy is concerned about the supply chains related to the country.
Thilo Pahl, managing director of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, told the newspaper that the impact of the energy cut on manufacturing companies would be significant.
"The tense situation in the supply chains would continue to aggravate."
Energy prices significantly increased at the turn of the year
Turkey has been struggling for a long time with an economic crisis and the rapid depreciation of the national currency, the lira.
Only at the turn of the year were electricity prices increased by 50 percent for households and by more than 100 percent for high-consumption companies.
Gas also became considerably more expensive.
Sol